A technology of Demand Response (hereinafter referred to as “DR”) has been proposed as a technology of controlling balance between demand and supply of power, namely, the balance between a demanding power amount and a supplying power amount in an entire region by a power supplier or an intermediate power management company (aggregator, or the like) requesting a customer who consumes the power to adjust (reduce or increase) the demanding power amount.
According to the DR, the power supplier or the like requests power adjustment to each customer based on the demanding power amount and the supplying power amount preliminarily estimated, and executes the power adjustment upon receipt of the request. Therefore, there is a time lag generated between a time when the power supplier or the like requests the power adjustment and a time when the customer executes the power adjustment.
In the case of accurately controlling the power demand and supply balance, it is preferable that such a time lag be short; however, in the case where the power supplier or the like requests the power adjustment immediately before the execution time and date, burden on the customer may be increased, or the customer may not be able to respond to the request for the power adjustment because an energy storage device such as a stationary storage battery or a heat storage tank owned by the customer is not capable enough to respond to the request.
On the other hand, in the case where the request for the power adjustment is made too early, it is difficult to accurately control the power demand and supply balance because of fluctuations of the estimated demand before the execution time and date. Also, a time and date to execute the power adjustment convenient for the customer may change after the request for the power adjustment is made.